Do we like Vijay?
Our score: 6 out of 10. No harmful words of his own turned up and there is real relief work, but the Karur tragedy and some shaky early calls in office leave him in the middle.
Vijay is one of Tamil cinema's biggest names. His fan club, the Vijay Makkal Iyakkam, was founded in 2009 and grew into a welfare network with tens of thousands of units. He launched the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam on 2 February 2024, took on both the major parties, and won the 2026 state election on his first go.
The dark chapter is Karur. On 27 September 2025, a stampede at his TVK rally killed 41 people. The Madras High Court, forming a police probe team, said the leader “vanished and disappeared from the place of occurrence” and that there was “no remorse” from the party. His first public event afterwards, in November, did not mention the tragedy.
The case later went to the CBI after Supreme Court directions, and Vijay was questioned three times, including more than seven hours in March 2026. The reports we opened describe him as questioned, not charged. His side has publicly said it wants justice too, but we couldn't open that story ourselves, so treat that as a lead.
On the harm check, the record is clean on his own words. At TVK's first big conference he said the party would not simply adopt Periyar's atheism or reject others' beliefs. The one stumble is that TVK listed its transgender wing ninth of 28, and trans activist Living Smile Vidya called out that number's history as a slur. TVK had not responded when it was reported.
The early government has had wobbles. In May he appointed his personal astrologer to a government post, and allies and the left jumped on it. He revoked it within a day and promised a secular government. Later that month, Puthiya Thalaimurai news channel was shuffled on the state cable network; a minister blamed technical problems, while the AIADMK and the Chennai Press Club raised concerns.
There is also an alleged incident from his rise. In August 2025 a party worker said Vijay's bouncers pushed him at a Madurai conference. Police registered a case against Vijay and ten others over alleged manhandling of the crowd, and he had not commented when it was reported. It is an allegation, not a finding.